It’s Time to Raise the Bar: Expect More from Your IT Provider 

Earlier this year, I published a blog entry encouraging business owners not to choose their IT vendor simply because they personally like them. Business owners – especially here in Charlotte – often default to the old adage of doing business with people they “know, like, and trust.”  

When it comes to choosing an IT vendor, that’s not enough. You also need to know that they’re competent and that they’re going to provide the results you need in your business. 

Today I want to cover a related topic. I’ve spent the last fifteen years building Proactive IT to serve business owners here in the Charlotte area. I’ve seen a lot during that time, and one thing I know for sure: many business owners are not holding their IT service provider to a high-enough standard.  

It’s time to raise the bar. Whether your business works with my team here at Proactive IT or whether you engage a different IT provider, I want you to raise your standards and your expectations: 

Expect Aligned Incentives. Most IT companies bill by the hour. But if you stop and think about it, this creates the wrong incentives for the IT company. Because it means that when something breaks in your business, they get paid to fix it. You’re losing productivity because your systems are down, and your IT company is getting paid as a result. 

How does that make any sense? 

At Proactive IT, we strongly prefer to bill our clients a monthly flat fee. This aligns our incentives with those of our clients. Our goal is to eliminate downtime by operating proactively – which maximizes productivity for our clients.  

Expect Documentation & Access. Some IT companies keep “secrets” from their clients. They withhold passwords, access, and documentation. They do this because they’re afraid that if they give their clients all of this information, their clients may decide that they don’t need them anymore. At Proactive, we take the opposite approach: at all times, our clients have full access to all systems documentation and information.  

Expect Professional Communication. You would think that this goes without saying. But like I said – in my 15 years operating this business, I’ve seen some shocking behavior from IT providers. Sometimes the relationship becomes downright toxic.  

Your IT provider should: 

• Communicate respectfully with you and your team; 
• Keep their promises; 

• Meet their deadlines; and 
• Respond to you in a timely manner when you need them. 

Again – this should go without saying. But unfortunately, it isn’t always the case.  

Expect a Strategic Partner. Your IT vendor should operate like a strategic partner, not simply a “tech person.” Your IT vendor should understand your business operations and should architect your IT systems to meet your needs and objectives. 

For example, one of the first questions your IT vendor should have asked you is “what are your recovery point objectives?” In other words, they should have asked you how much data you can afford to lose in the event of a cyberattack or other incident. Can you afford to lose a week’s worth of data? A day’s worth of data? An hour’s worth of data? Absolutely no more than five minutes’ worth of data?  

And they should have asked you about your recovery time objectives – which basically means, how long can you afford for your tech systems to be down in the event that something goes wrong? Some organizations can afford for their network to be down for several hours before it creates serious problems. Other organizations can’t tolerate even 15 minutes of downtime. 

 Your answer to those questions determines the type of backup and recovery solutions that you need. Your IT provider can’t possibly prescribe you the right IT solutions if they don’t understand your business operations.  

Technology in your business is a means to an end – it’s a tool that should serve your business as you grow. And that means you should expect your IT vendor to be a strategic partner, not just a “tech guy.” 

It’s time to raise the bar when it comes to IT services.  

We’ve helped many businesses here in Charlotte transition away from IT vendors that aren’t delivering adequate support, and the process of transitioning to Proactive IT is much less painful than you might expect. You’re NOT stuck, even if it might feel that way.  

If you’d like to have a conversation about your organization’s IT strategy, please reach out to us via email at info@weareproactive.com or 704-464-3075 extension 3.        

Dedicated to IT security and productivity,

– Steve